I was looking at a 1998 30th anniversary 190 on Boat Trader, but there no hydro rails on the photo. What would it cost to have those installed? Is it essential for boat handling characteristics? Thanks, Tom

I don't know what the answer is but the can of worms has been opened. I wondered the same thing myself when I was looking at a 30th too. I don't think they are absolutely necessary. I believe the purpose was to add a bit more lift to the back of the boat when underway. This reason never made much sense to me as I thought the issue was a somewhat ineffective rudder at some rare and goofy situations. I believe it was officially called chine lock.

Don't really know what the effect of each band aid individually did. The whole " fix" included rails , t rudder and fourth tracking fin. From what I gather the t rudder fixed the chime lock but reduced tracking and increased spray. So the rails and fourth fins were added. I may be totally wrong. Either way if your not on a private ski lake , you should be good to go regardless.

My brother in law bought a new 1998 Prostar that we skied on for at least a full season before he had the mods done. That was when I was just getting into course skiing, probably 28-32 MPH at 15 off. I seem to recall not noticing any significant difference. Either way it was a better wake than my '89. It drove so differently than mine I did not notice much of a change from behind the wheel either. Not to stir the pot on this hull, but his boat has always been, and still is, a great boat to ski behind and drive.
I have never skied behind a barefoot boat, but my guess is the wake may be a little bigger with the inboard, but it will track much better. They are great boats, don't hesitate to buy it!
Good luck.

Nearly all the 1998 190s out there will have the foiled rudder and the fourth skeg. The hydrorails were standard equipment in 1999 and were made available as add-ons to the 1998 190s. I know Farmer Ted had his added after the fact, but that was not recent.

My understanding is that the hydrorails had nothing to do with handling characteristics. Their function was to soften the wake a bit. Farmer Ted could certainly give you a good idea about the before and after results of the hydrorails.

I would suggest calling Rambo Marine, Charlotte Ski Boats, and Bay Area Water Sports. Any of those dealers could have some lying around or could give you a reasonable idea on the likelihood of your finding some.

To me, this forum is about love of inboard boats. It is about the sharing of information and, on a good day, some humor. It is not about post count, brand of boat, or any other superfluous labels that lend themselves to a false sense of superiority. Please, respect one another, try to pass on accurate information, and keep your eye on the ball.